So I was laid off last week for the second time in 3 years. Fourth time in my career. Totally blindsided by it. I have now started to look for answers to many things as I could not believe I would be in this position again after changing to an entirely different industry. My biggest question is if there is something I am doing or giving off that makes me a target to get rid of when the company decides to make cuts?
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First of all, I’m so sorry to hear. I’ve been through 2 within 4 years as well and it never gets easier. Though sometimes layoffs can sometimes be due to an individual, they often times are not. Sometimes it’s last one in last one out, sometimes it’s because your compensation is higher than a colleague’s, etc. Unfortunately, I also think HR/Recruiting are often at the chopping board because we don’t “directly generate revenue”. Some things you can help are getting an understanding of a company’s financials and outlook and their plan for growth, research the industry and market trends, etc. Ask direct questions during interviews to gauge stability, why they are hiring for this role, if they see clear value in it, etc. Think like a CFO. Once you’re at a company, do everything you can to expose yourself to the business side of things to keep tabs of how things are going. Plan an exit if things aren’t going well. Offer to involve yourself in a lot of projects or create new initiatives - make it hard for them to untangle you away from the company bc you’ve made yourself super valuable. None of this is ever full-proof but these are steps that have helped me survive a few rounds of layoffs.
You're exactly right. Having been through this before I thought I would have seen signs. The person in charge of the process did a good job of keeping it a secret as I got email for days afterwards ( never shut my inbox off after). It really hurts because all those people reaching out looking for me kinda signifies how much work I was doing and how much will be left behind. The whole thing hurts a lot because I was one of two people hired at the same time last year and she was not let go. We have the same title, just recruited for different positions. I also have a couple more years experience than she does.